Serafima Serafimova
Role play, in theory, is meant to be fun – a harmless bit of dress-up, a way to disrupt the routine and invite something a little riskier, a little kinkier into the bedroom. It offers permission to poke around in the darker corners of your imagination without consequence, protected by the safety of a trusted partner and the unspoken rule that none of it is meant to be real. But fantasies have a habit of wriggling out of their safe containers. They misbehave. They escalate. Kyle Jon Shepherd takes that idea to its darkest extreme in Role Play, turning a seemingly harmless sexual fantasy into a twisted mind game where nothing is quite as it seems.
Spoiler alert: Haven’t seen Role Play yet? Stop here. Go watch it, then return and we can revel in the deliciously naughty fun.
Directed by Shepherd, Role Play knows exactly how to tease its audience. The razor-sharp script, written by Kit Loyd, is genuinely funny, built around punchy exchanges that turn cringy embarrassment into brilliant entertainment. What starts as awkward comedy is steadily nudged towards something much more disturbing, helped along by clever, almost voyeuristic camerawork that makes the viewer feel as if we are peeking in on something we perhaps should not be watching. The result is both surprising and thrilling. Role Play is a confident piece of filmmaking, balancing both humour and menace with mischievous glee, and keeps you guessing right up to the very end.
“I loved how the script offered these opportunities for taking the audience in different directions”
The story centres on Tim and Lucy, a couple attempting to spice up their sex life. Their increasingly awkward evening takes a sharp turn when Mick, a man Lucy once slept with, turns up unexpectedly in their kitchen. A panicked lie forces him into the couple’s fantasy as a supposed third party, and what begins as the world’s unsexiest threesome scenario quickly mutates into something far more uncomfortable. Role Play consistently wrong-foots its audience, refusing to settle into anything predictable and just when we think we have figured it all out, it becomes clear we’ve been played – something Shepherd clearly had a lot of fun with.
“I loved how the script offered these opportunities for taking the audience in different directions, with darker elements that really catch you off guard – that’s always really satisfying to direct”, the director shared with S/W. “The dialogue which Kit wrote for the characters had a very punchy, Pinter-like style which I really enjoyed bringing to life.”
“On the performance side, I kept things as hands-off as I could” – Shephard on working with his cast.
The camerawork becomes a key tool in navigating the short’s shifting tones, particularly as it builds toward its climax. “The film has a double twist, which can always be super tricky to navigate,” Shepherd explains. “Only having sixteen minutes to do so many tonal shifts was a challenge, so we thought about using these ‘hidden cam’ angles, which would change the feel of the film in a fun but efficient way – going from lighthearted comedy to something much darker.” It’s a risky move, but one that pays off. The hidden-camera angles, combined with the distorted shots during the strangulation scene, subtly reposition the audience: we go from passive observers to almost complicit participants, caught off guard as the story unfolds.
While the inventive camerawork keeps us glued until the very last twist, it’s the script and the performances that grab us from the start. Role Play delivers dark British humour at its finest, with one-liners landing perfectly and physical comedy hitting just as hard. Marina Bye and Kit Loyd are superb, selling every pause, glance, and stumble with impeccable timing during their hilarious attempts at role play. But the standout scene for me has to be Luke Rollason’s reveal in the gimp suit – it had me in stitches. All three actors are a delight to observe, and I’d even recommend a second watch, as that’s when their talent truly comes into focus. Subtle improvisations and the way the trio respond in the moment, thinking on their feet and adapting to each beat, reveal just how good they are at what they do. It’s this combination of witty writing, assured performances, and wicked sense of humour that makes Role Play a thoroughly scrumptious, naughty little treat.